Food Miles: HIX, W1 - review
HIX is situated at the gloomy end of Brewer Street. From its vast walls and high ceilings hang an array of modern artworks, including small fish in Perspex boxes that must have taken Damien Hirst simply ages.
My guest was Justin Edwards, an absolute behemoth of a man who can act drunk astonishingly well. More importantly, he is a lover of meat. It was a very busy room. When the waitress brought over the night's cuts of meat for our inspection, I struggled to hear her. I nodded a lot until my ears acclimatised. There was hanger steak, a large veal cut, a porterhouse steak and a whole grouse sitting there proudly, looking all gamey. She illustrated the provenance of the hanger steak by pointing to a portion of her own back around her kidneys, as if it was from there that the meat we ordered might come.
No one asked us about wine so we flagged down a passing waiter and ordered a bottle of the cheapest red. Then we took in the other diners. At the long bar sat a splendid selection of older people flirting enthusiastically with each other. Many diners had a distinctly 'meedja' look to them: men in their forties in box-fresh trainers still wearing their hair long, squeezed into pristine shirts. There were a lot of jeans and blazers and shiny, pointy shoes. The women looked painfully immaculate. I imagine that the combined weight of all the moisturiser that had been applied by the men and women there could comfortably displace Lake Michigan.
I started with pigeon on puffball with a generous portion of baked marrow, which I really enjoyed, while Justin had 'Heaven and Earth', an intensely rich black pudding on a bed of mashed potato. My hanger steak, whether originally part of the waitress or not, was cooked to perfection. We had sides of broccoli and parsnip croquettes. Justin's delicious-looking veal chop, however, defeated him. He never seemed sure which bits to eat and which to leave, and finally put his cutlery down. 'It's not like me to leave meat on my plate,' he said sadly.
We didn't fancy pudding or coffee, and instead walked down the road to a pub whose selection of ales was matched only by the surliness of its staff.
HIX 66-70 Brewer Street, W1 (020 7292 3518; hixsoho.co.uk)
